Aldehyde dehydrogenase activity and large vessel disease in diabetes mellitus. A preliminary study.

Type II diabetic subjects, 26 with symptoms and/or signs of large vessel disease (LVD group) and 26 free from clinical vascular disease (FVD group), matched for sex, age, body weight, and duration of diabetes after diagnosis, together with 28 healthy controls participated in a preliminary study on new potential risk factors of large vessel disease. The activity of erythrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) was significantly higher (P less than 0.005) in the LVD than in the FVD group and in the controls, as indicated by a shorter half-life of acetaldehyde in homogenates of erythrocytes and plasma (100 +/- 11, 203 +/- 28, and 180 +/- 21 min, respectively). The results were unaffected by antidiabetes therapy, blood glucose control, alcohol consumption, or by recognized risk factors of angiopathy, such as blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, or smoking. Whether ALDH activity is a primary factor in large vessel disease or is merely a secondary phenomenon is unknown. However, ALDH activity is a critical factor determining chlorpropamide alcohol flush (CPAF), which has been suggested to be an inherited trait in some type II diabetic subjects. In conclusion, high ALDH activity was shown to be associated with an increased risk of large vessel disease in diabetes.